A Risk-Filled Journey of Faithfulness

Friends -

Welcome to the official kickoff of Spring in North Central Texas. Today, I spent the morning mowing knee-high grass in my backyard, the afternoon keeping one eye on the sky, one eye on KTVT (and my favorite photojournalist!), and one eye on the safe room in our house as tornado sirens blared throughout Burleson for half an hour. Now, the sun is shining, all is well, and I’m in front of the computer typing our latest newsletter. Not too bad…for a Monday.

At Christ Journey Church, we are grateful for a God who continues revealing himself to us, allowing us to connect with new people, and providing us with times to celebrate his transformational work among us. I would like to spend the next few paragraphs reflecting on God’s work in our midst.

First, we are having a lot of fun experimenting with a catechesis discussion group. I am near the end of my first year of graduate school at Abilene Christian University, and currently, taking a class called “Narrative Evangelism” with Dr. Chris Flanders, former missionary to Thailand. As part of the preparation required for the class, I read The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom by Alan Krieder. In the book, Krieder unveils the conversion process of the “Apostolic Tradition,” and after reading his material, I was struck by the emphasis on intentional pre-baptism instruction. Current Uptown Dallas Church Planter, Charles Kiser, worked with Christ Journey from November 2006 to July 2007, and during that time, spearheaded the development of a spiritual formation process for the church. As a result, we (Charles and I) compared our spiritual formation process with that of the early church, and discovered that our current process contained no element of pre-baptism instruction. From there, we launched Foundations as a pilot catechesis and discussion group.

There are three purposes behind the Foundations group: 1) to learn the basic foundations of Christianity (over the course of 10 weeks, participants walk through a six-episode framework of the story of God: creation, crisis, covenant, Christ, church, and culmination), 2) to participate in a God-centered, non-threatening environment where honest questions and answers about Christianity can be shared; this will be an environment of conversation not classrom, and 3) to seek after God, and all that he has to give us.

Each week, we begin with a spiritual formation exercise such as: lectio divina, African Bible study, or reflective prayer. From there, we journey through a story in the Bible, discuss the story, receive instruction from the story, discern God’s prophetic call in the story, and share suggestions for practicing the story. As Walter Bruggeman says, “Narratives authorize, fund, and nurture imagination and practice.” Therefore, we dive into the story of God to imagine and practice his ways. Last Sunday, we concluded the Christ-episode, and will move forward into “The Church” next week. Below are reflections from some of the Foundations participants:

“This is the highlight of my week. I love the spiritual formation exercises that we start with.” - Debra Osborn
“Foundations is opening me up to a whole new experience of God and others that I’ve never had before.” - Jimmy Osborn
“We are growing more and more each week. God’s transformation continues to amaze me.” - Andy Lancaster

For Christ Journey, eventually, Foundations will serve as a “right of passage” from our orientation dinner into house churches, formation groups, and other ministries. In addition, we pray that it would become a launching point toward life with Christ for non-Christians.

Second, we praise the Lord for opportunitites to celebrate his faithfulness to us. On Saturday, March 22, 93 folks gathered together at Warren Park in Burleson to celebrate life with God, life with each other, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We setup a portable stage underneath the park pavilion, fired up a couple grills, and filled the playground area with Easter eggs. The Christ Journey Worship Band played a rockin’ series of songs, we chowed down on hotdogs, chips, and cookies, and the little ones shared in a fun-to-watch Easter egg hunt. Special “thank yous” go out to Hollie Blackwell, Tiffany Davis, Wendy Thompson, and Debra Osborn for putting this connective event together. As the weather continues to improve, we look forward to more time in the parks, playgrounds, and neighborhoods of our communities.

Third, we are realizing that we can not stay “here” and build a tower to the heavens. Instead, we must trust in the Lord, leave everything we know to be familiar, and go to the “land” he will show us, so that we might be a blessing to the nations. (Genesis 11.1-9 & Genesis 12.1-3) For at least 9 months, our Sunday morning worship gathering has been at or near capacity. Currently, we meet on Sundays @ 10:30am @ J.J. Mocha’s in Old Town Burleson. Comfortably (and I know there are some Christ Journeyers out there who might beg to differ!), J.J. Mocha’s seats around 60 people, and as a result, we do not have much space. After researching other options, we have decided to stay put, because we believe God has led us into an Old Town location, we desire to keep our facilities budget where it is, and we are entering into the beginning stages of a church planting movement. Therefore, we are moving forward in prayer and fasting toward the addition of a 2nd Sunday morning worship gathering, or as my friend, Milton Young, reminds us: Christ Journey’s first church plant! On Wednesday, March 19, Christ Journey entered into a time of 40 days devoted to prayer and fasting in regards to the launch of this 2nd worship gathering. Participants are praying for 3 specific items: 1) that God would give us a passion for our neighborhoods, and lead us into relationships with neighbors, 2) that God would fill the 60-65 empty chairs that a new worship gathering would open up, and 3) that God would work out all of the practical, resource, and administrative work associated with another Sun AM worship gathering. Our time of prayer and fasting will conclude on Sun, April 27 which is the date that has been set for our first preview Sunday of two worship gatherings. For now, we anticipate a series of 2-4 preview worship gatherings throughout the spring and summer; however, we are not desiring to put any limitations on the Holy Spirit. As a result, we’re seeking the Lord in prayer, fasting, and communal discernment, and will launch “in full” when we feel God leading us to do so. We don’t have all the answers, and we admit to such. We’re not sure what multiple worship gatherings looks like in a church connected to 85-90 people. However, we’re having a lot of fun taking risks for the Kingdom, and staying dependant upon the Lord for fruit. We invite you to join us for the remaining 27 days of prayer and fasting. These are humble and exciting times for Christ Journey Church.

Fourth, we are looking to the Lord to send help! As we look back over the last two years, we are extremely thankful for the blessings the Lord sent us in Mitch Anderson, Charles Kiser, and Julie Kiser. We are grateful for the opportunity to share life, ministry, and relationship with each of these three dear friends. As the Lord continues to display his faithfulness to us, he is raising up another family to come and work with Christ Journey in the area of spiritual formation on a full-time (not just apprenticeship) basis. We praise the Lord for this amazing opportunity! As a result, we have entered into a time of intense prayer, conversation, and fund raising. We are praying that God would unite this family with us by mid-to-late summer. As a result, we are in need of your help. As we look forward to the continued growth of Foundations, the addition of a 2nd Sunday morning worship gathering, and more community connective events that allow us to forge relationships with new people, we are experiencing the in-breaking, life-changing Kingdom of God. With Moses, we are crying out to the Lord to tear the callouses from our hearts so that we might proclaim and live out the ways of God in Burleson and the surrounding communities, and he is answering through mighty and transformational testimonies. Therefore, would you partner with us in this Kingdom work? Would you help in making a way for this family to join us? We are in need of one-time and monthly financial support. If you sense God calling you into this Kingdom work, continue praying and contact Chris by clicking here.

Thank you again for joining us along this church planting journey in South Fort Worth. For pictures, testmonies, sermons, and other information, check out our website at www.ChristJourney.net. Here are a few upcoming events:

Sun, April 6
Tod Vogt, Mission Alive Director of Church Planter Equipping, will be speaking.

Sat, April 12
Ladies Brunch. Click here for details.

Sun, April 27
First preview Sunday with two worship gatherings.

Fri, May 9 & Sat, May 10
Ladies Spa Retreat. Click here for details.

Below are some pictures from recent Christ Journey gatherings:

~ by frankginley on March 31, 2008.