Who, what, and where

Who is this new church for? The other day I was talking with some Christian guys I know in Helena and they asked me how things were going with the new church. I brought up that some of us have had some very encouraging discussions lately with people who aren’t Christians. We’re sensing some openness and receptivity to the gospel. We’re praying for people, hoping to reach those who have not made commitments to Christ.

One of the guys looked at me and said that didn’t seem like what most churches were about, that most churches wanted to appeal to those who were already Christians.

Wow. Well, it’s what we want to be about. We’re open to the seekers and the skeptics. We want to welcome the burned out, worn out, and left out. Isn’t this what Jesus did? He was always hanging out with the wrong people. People who were overtly living bad lives—like prostitutes. People who were shunned and ignored—like lepers. People who had sold out their fellow Jews and were getting rich working for the occupying Roman Empire—the tax collectors. This drove the religious establishment crazy.

Why couldn’t Jesus just stay in the synagogue and teach the nice people? Why was he always with the sick and possessed? Why were is closest followers low class fishermen?

God is calling us to be like Jesus, and this means appealing to the “wrong” people.

What is this new church about? Again, Jesus is our model. We want to do the things that Jesus did. One of the best ways to see what Jesus was about is to read the first chapter or two of the gospel of Mark. It’s all there: Jesus calls people to a life of discipleship; he heals the sick; he drives out demons; he forgives sinners; he devotes himself to prayer.

So often Christianity reduces the gospel to a matter of believing the right things so that you can go to heaven when you die. But look at Jesus’ life: sure, he taught about heaven. He discussed eternal matters. But look at how much time he spent involved in the lives of ordinary people, meeting their needs, setting them free from whatever was burdening them, whether sickness, possession, oppression, or sin.

A friend of mine recently said that Christians will be judged on two things: how they used their God-given talents and how they treat the poor. I think he’s right (check out the Parable of the Talents and the story of the Sheep and the Goats).

Where will this new church be? I’m happy to be able to say that we’ve got a location for our first worship services. We’ll be meeting at Exploration Works, the beautiful new children’s museum here in Helena (pictured at the top of this post). It’s located right next to the carousel in the Great Northern Town Center. Not only does it have a great space for us, complete with a perfect place for young children, I’m sure my kids will be happy that it’s next to the carousel.

We’ll be trying out the space for the first time on Sunday, October 19 at 10 a.m. This won’t be a full-on worship service, but we will have music, prayer, and I’ll be presenting our vision in greater detail. We’d love to have you join us.