Finding Joy

Since beginning this blog journey, this was the longest stretch without updating you. I can't imagine your life was very affected by my absence. In case it was, thanks for your patience.

It is safe to say we have turned a corner in our new Colorado life. I have a (new) full time job, the kiddos are in the school week grind, and CO life is less and less like a vacation trip these days.

It is so good though. We are thankful for the rhythms of rest we chose to prioritize during the move in July. We are not taking on too many new activities, meetings, or projects these days. We have chosen to prioritize the values God has led us to make our church's core values. Here they are, in the order I prefer to share them in:

LISTEN [to stories]. When you ask someone, “how are you?” Do you want to hear them say, "good", or do you want to hear a story? Do you know the stories of your coworkers, neighbors, or the people you live with? As Followers of Jesus, we can too often try to be interesting instead of being interested. The great commission, to go to the nations (Matthew 28), is a call to build bridges and in a post-christian world, listening is loving (John 13:35) and love is the posture we must prioritize.

It has been wonderful to hear the stories of those we meet and interact with. Our neighborhood block party was hours of sitting in chairs, outside, sipping drinks, and hearing stories. We are finding others to be surprised when we show interest in their story and not just what they can do for us, at that moment.

2. Learn [together]. When does a human start learning? When do we stop? More importantly, how do we learn? The school system in the west teaches many to ask, “how little do I need to learn to pass?” As followers of Jesus, we are committed to lifelong learning, together. Even the teachers are committed to learning, together. We test truth claims, together. We are challenged and drawn out of our comfort zones, together. Even disagreements are opportunities to learn, together.

The tougher moments of this planting season have been when one of us is being stretched and taught by God and (choosing) to go about it alone. Our weekly and monthly launch team meetings are becoming a safe place to share what each of us are learning and process it together. We also have opportunities (coming up) for us to consume content togthether. Much of what we are learning is about life in Arvada, CO and what it requires to launch a new expression of the gospel.

3. Mobilize [for good]. How do we respond to brokenness? Following Jesus requires more than thoughts and prayers, we must take action. The mission of God is to fundamentally alert people of the universal reign of God through reconciliation (Hebrews 12:14), justice (Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8), beauty (Psalm 24, Romans 1:20), and wholeness (John 10:10, Jeremiah 30:17, Revelation 21:5). When any of these 4 pillars are broken, followers of Jesus rise up, together. Serving free of self and echoing our maker's words, when He looked on His creation and said, “it is good” (Genesis 1:31). Before God had a church, he had a mission, and in order to accomplish that mission, the Church was born.

The needs of every society run deep. I am tempted to share with you (publicly here) the needs we see in Arvada but I do not believe that would be healthy or good. We are still learning and only being residents for a few months now, it would come across a bit judgmental of this incredible community.

4. Rest [in Jesus]. If there have been so many good people, organizations, and ideas…why isn’t there more good to show for it? Chasing restoration can tire out and burnout even the strongest of us. When we rest, we grow. When we rest, we gain perspective. When we rest, we breath slower. God built us to rest (Sabbath), God modeled rest (Genesis 2:2-3), Jesus gave us rest (Mark 2:27-28), and our physical bodies need it just as much (science!).

Quality, sustaining rest is found in a connection to our life source and sustainer (John 15:5-8). When we rest in Jesus, we are able to produce the fruit of the spirit, see how God sees, and start fresh again.

We will have lots of people join this community but the most difficult part will be telling them to slow down AND them telling ME (Jared) to slow down. I am haunted by the question, what does it look like, for a new church, to value healthy people over healthy attendance? At this point, we know, it requires daily spiritual, physical, and mental rest.

Those are the core values of the church. Please send me/us your questions and thoughts. We would love to hear from your story too.

- Jared