I sat across the table with a young man at lunch a few weeks ago. We were
simply sharing with one another some of our personal goals for our spiritual
life. Sometimes it’s in these
moments when you are discussing your faith that you realize that something’s
just not right.
I began talking about my personal prayer life and soon realized that I was encouraging this young man to
do something that I had not consistently been practicing myself over the last
few weeks. I could do my best to reason it away by
looking at my busy schedule or filling my life with so-called “good things” but
it really didn’t matter. I had to
be honest with myself.
The majority of
people I come in contact with want a better relationship with God. I don’t think
I’ve ever met a spiritual
sojourner who would say that they’ve arrived at their destination. I think we could all agree that we are
“works in progress.”
I began to ask
myself why I allowed so many important things in my life to take a
backseat. I came to a simple and
yet profound statement: What you fail to make priority in your life will slowly but
surely have no place at all.
How remarkably simple and yet
true.
Maybe this is why my prayer
life lately has looked more like the recent stock market figures than anything
else. I want a deeper relationship
with God, more quality time with my family, and more investment in my personal
development and yet I haven’t implemented the disciplines necessary to sustain
these goals. I had thrown a few of
these things into the “optional” category of life.
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Meet Tim. Tim is 25 years old and considers
himself a Christian who’s never really been a huge fan of church. Give Tim a Sunday morning service and
he’ll show up every once in awhile.
Give Tim a group of close friends and he’ll show up to church most of
the time. Give Tim a cause to live
for and you may see Tim more than you want to.
Ten or twenty
years ago you could throw open the church doors, plan a few events here and
there, and call it good. People
would come, people would sit through service, and people would come back next
week.
Not so with this
generation. Don’t get me wrong,
there’s nothing wrong with a Sunday service; in fact it’s fairly important for
the believers to gather together (Hebrews 10:25).
However, I can’t
help but be alarmed when I see how many college students, twenty somethings,
and young thirties are absent from the church. It makes you stop and think: What is the future church going
to look like if we’re missing a really big demographic?
So, what went
wrong? Why don’t we see the next
generation connecting with the church?
I’m not
necessarily trying to sound the alarm or push the panic button but I think it’s
something every Christian should wrestle with, especially if we are committed
to the next generation....
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Yesterday CityChurch celebrated our first 3 months as a church. We celebrate what God has done so far and look forward to all that is to come.
3-Month Recap:
- 23 people have committed their lives to Christ
- We have launched 4 community groups with 2 more launching in the next few weeks
- We had our first baptism celebration 2 weeks ago with our next one coming up Monday night
- We had 83 people at our first BIGteam night with over 50 people currently serving at CityChurch
- Our Love Tulsa initiative has already impacted Wright Elementary, the Tulsa Boys Home, our Brookside community, and the local churches around us in a huge way with so many relationships that have been developed.
- We have averaged about 125 people in attendance each week since our launch on January 31st.
- We have heard so many stories of life change and so many people who have taken the Next Step in their walk with Christ
Baskin Robbins is a
little overwhelming to someone like me.
I mean 31 flavors to choose from.
It would be a lot easier if it were just chocolate, vanilla, and if I’m
feeling a little crazy maybe some strawberry. That’s why I hate going to the Cheescake Factory for dinner. They’re menu looks like one of my old
college textbooks. I can’t pick an
entrée and actually be satisfied because I’m too afraid that I picked the wrong
one. The Pasta da Vinci looks
amazing but I haven’t even read through the other thirteen pages on the menu. What could I be missing?
Ask anyone around
Tulsa and they’ll usually give you the same response. “It seems like we’ve got
a church on every corner, sometimes two on a corner,” they say in a
rather disgusted tone.
What I’ve never
understood is why that’s such a bad thing? Whether you’re churched or unchurched it always seems like the
variety of churches in our city is a negative. I can maybe understand if you’re unchurched because the
church is altogether irrelevant to your life and your always asking “why
another church?”
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Be honest. When you think of characteristics that
describe God what is the first thing that comes to mind? We know God loves us but do we think of
God as a good God? I would argue
many Christians walk around with a distorted image of God. Although he loves us, we get a picture
of God who is continually tipping the scales and we usually come up short.
We picture God through a cloudy
reflection of our own personal experiences and relationships.
Maybe you had a father who was more of a
disciplinarian and all of a sudden our picture of God becomes more of a taskmaster
than a loving Daddy (Abba). I would argue this: The farther we get from God the more our view of God becomes distorted. KEY: Keep it close.
I truly believe
this. Your distorted view of God
will directly affect your relationship with God. Yesterday at CityChurch
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CityChurch
celebrated its 1-month anniversary this past Sunday. There is one phrase that comes to mind after reviewing the
last month, “God is faithful.”
During our DIRT sermon series that explained our 4 core values as a
church we have seen numerous people take the next step in their walk with
Christ.
Things to Celebrate:
·
12
people have committed their life to Christ over the past month & numerous
people have shared their story of turning back to God
·
We
have expanded our mentoring partnership with Wright Elementary and the Tulsa
Boys Home
·
We
had 145 people worshipping with us last Sunday morning (2.21.10)
·
CityChurch
stepped up and raised money and remodel materials for the Jordan family who
lost their home in a fire and have several children with special needs
·
This
past Sunday night we had our Community Group kickoff night where we launched 4
new community groups
·
We
have expanded our worship team, cityKIDS team, connect team, and
set-up/tear-down teams
Things to Come:
·
This
Sunday we start our new series, Redemptive Love, where we will talk about
understanding our place in God’s story of Redemption
·
We
have a HUGE vision for Love Tulsa and we will have several people sharing their
stories on Sunday morning over the next several weeks
·
We
will be launching more Community Groups in the very near future!!!
·
We
are excited about going on the journey with an amazing group of people.
Despite about 8 inches of snow/ice the City Church Launch was a huge success. We had about 170 people from around the community join us with several individuals making a first time commitment to follow Christ. We are so excited to begin this incredible journey.
During the service we also announced that City Church will begin a renovation project for the Jordan family, a family who lost their home to a fire over Christmas.
January is finally here and it's a huge month for City Church. Here is a schedule of our upcoming month. Even if you're not a part of City Church but want to help us during our "Invite Saturdays" we would love to have you.
January
Jan 3 - Launch Team Training 6PM at Tulsa Ballet
Jan 9 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers) 10am - noon
Jan 10 - Preview Service #1 Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM
Jan 16 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers) 10am - noon
Jan 17 - Preview Service #2 Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM
Jan 23 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers, etc.) 10am - 2PM
Jan 30 - Invite Saturday 10am - 2PM
Jan 30 - Grand Opening Launch!!! Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM
Email: matt@citychurchtulsa.com
When we began to dream about a church in Midtown Tulsa we knew we wanted to be a community focused on transforming our city through serving others. This January as we launch City Church we will also be launching Love Tulsa: a movement of Christ-followers who are passionate about taking their walk with Christ outside the walls of the church. Love Tulsa is about taking the love of Christ to the schools, businesses, neighborhoods, and cultural centers of our city. By loving others we reflect Christ and open the door for real spiritual transformation to occur.
We are less than 60 days away from our City Church launch! Wow! God has been so incredibly faithful to us through this process. Our next Gathering (& Christmas Party) is this Sunday night, December 13th @ 6PM at the Tulsa Ballet. We will eat together, meet in the worship area for a short time, and then walk through the facility as a launch team. We will also be working toward our Christmas blessing to Wright Elementary. Come be a part of something bigger than yourself.
It's not too late to join our launch team. Along with what we are doing by serving our city we are asking each launch team member to commit to serving in at least 1 of the following areas:
- Lock N' Load (set up/tear down)
- Connect Team (lobby, greeters, coffee bar, etc.)
- Worship/Tech
- City Kids
