This past Sunday our church – The Gathering – celebrated quite a bit.  It was the end of our second year since we launched the church in September of 2011, the first official Sunday in our brand new space and the opening day for the 2013 NFL season (I don’t need much of a reason to turn ANY event into a FOOTBALL event).  A couple of months ago I started praying that we’d see 300 people come on to the Kickoff event, and between the worship service (we had right at 200) and the people that popped by later to enjoy the inflatables, food and football, we probably saw around 250 people.  Not quite 300, but I’m not complaining.  It was a great day – quite possibly the best day – for our church since we began. The air was electric, and before and after the service there was that great sound of people talking in excited tones that makes the room feel like it’s alive.

But that wasn’t the best part of the best day.  The best part came much later, after the majority of the people had called it a day and gone home and just about 40-50 were staying till the bitter end of another Panther late-game collapse.  As I sat and talked with a number of people who had been with us, one of them said something that really made me smile, and for me – and all of you that are planted as members at The Gathering – this comment is what will always make me think of September 8, 2013 and say, “We won!”

One of the guests that had been with us for the whole celebration was talking about how much she enjoyed the service and how much she’d gotten out of the worship and the teaching, and so she asked one of our elders (and I’m paraphrasing here, but it’s pretty close to this), “So, what’s you church like on regular Sundays?”

The elder looked at her and said, “Pretty much like today.”

And that, church, is the win.  We didn’t put a fake foot forward, or try to blow up the building with a big show, or pretend to be anything other than who we are.  That lady could come back this Sunday (and I hope she does!) and, minus some hot dogs and a bounce house, she’d find that the air is just as filled with the excited anticipation of followers of Jesus waiting for HIM to show up big.  She’d find that we sing just as loudly and passionately on “regular” Sundays as we do on the “big” ones.  She would see that we devour the truth of Scripture just as much, laugh just as hard, and hug each other just as tightly each week as we did last week.

Shows are fun, and I’d never deny it.  But at some point shows are over.  The great thing about the awesome presence of God is that it doesn’t.  In fact, the promise of scripture is that his presence just gets stronger and stronger and stronger.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

What that means for The Gathering is simple: the best is yet to come.  The plans that are being paid out for our third year will prepare us for EVER-INCREASING GLORY, and that means that this time next year, we’ll have even more victories to celebrate on another day that will be the best day in our church.

And the best part of that best day will still be what was the best part of this best day: who we are on one day is who we are on all the others.

And that makes me – and Jesus – smile.

One of the hardest things in church planting is defining the win. Wait, let me rephrase that. One of the hardest things in church planting is remembering how we defined the win. Yes, much better. Let me explain why.

Most new organizations (and a church would fall into that category) don’t have a hard time defining the win early on.  Of course, most of those wins are on paper, which is worthless for the most part because it doesn’t actually count. (If wins on paper counted, the Carolina Panthers really would go to the Super Bowl this season!)

Early on churches say the right things, like “we reach people for Jesus” or “we invite the unchurched” or something similar.  But lots of times those wins disappear in a flurry of activities that feel very different than what we expected.  Let’s be honest: coming early and setting up a heavy sound system week in and week out doesn’t feel very much like a win, and it doesn’t take long for us – and I don’t care who you are, if you’re breathing, you’ve struggled with this – to start to wonder if we are, in fact, winning.

(Insert your favorite Charlie Sheen joke here, even though it has been way overplayed and you should stop telling it.)

Back to the point.  This past Sunday was one of those days when all of us who have invested our time and energy shaking hands, pouring coffee, smiling at first-time guests and making phone calls were able to get in our cars after The Gathering’s worship service and say, “Ahh!  Now that’s a win.”  While I appreciate all of the kind words and all of the effort that went into making Pastor Appreciation Day so much fun, it was the constant pointing to Jesus that made my day.  Did you see it, too?  Did you hear how many people told different stories with the same themes?

“Umm.  This is the first time I’ve ever shared my story in public.”

“I used to attend church but didn’t like it.  I came to The Gathering and loved it.”

“I used to wake up on Sundays and think, ‘Man. It’s Sunday.’  Now I can’t wait for Sundays!”

“This place doesn’t have a layer of religious crap.”

“This place is real.”

“This place just has…it.”

To everyone who shared a testimony about what Jesus is doing in your life, thank you.  You could not have done a better job of defining for all of us again what it looks like when Jesus wins us over.  To everyone who has worn an orange shirt, has come early, has spent time in prayer asking Jesus to shine His glory on our city, let me say congratulations!  Sunday was the day that you could enjoy the fruit of so much of your labor, and I know you felt the same way I did: it is worth it to see the change and hope in people’s lives.

Are we done? Heck no!!  We’re just getting started, and I can promise you that there are days ahead of us when we will all feel tired again and the win won’t seem to be quite as clear as it was on Sunday.  But that’s what happens when  ordinary people answer an extra-ordinary call. This task is bigger than you and me combined, but on the days that we feel overwhelmed, I invite you to pull this entry back up, read it, and remember that we are winning!

I LOVE MY CHURCH!!!

[A lot has happened since I wrote about this in 10/12.  To read more about where this day has taken us, be sure to see the update at the end.]

There are key moments in the history of all church plants that make the leaders stop and pause, and we’ve had a number of those moments at The Gathering already.  The first salvation, the first baptisms, the first Sunday with an overcrowded sanctuary. But this past Sunday was such an incredible moment that I have had to literally take a few days to even try and process what we all saw happen.

It was a line in the sand moment.  A DNA-revealing moment.  A moment when who we desire to be as a church became who we are as a church.

It was rare, holy, and inspiring.

How many church plants give away a year’s worth of rent in a one-time offering?  There may be a lot, but I only know of one for sure, and I couldn’t be more proud to lead it.

All of us have heard the expression “put your money where your mouth is” more times than we can probably count, and the reason we’ve heard it so much is because it’s true.  So many times people talk a good game, but when it’s time to put up or shut up, the talk is revealed as words only, and the Bible has some pretty strong things to say about only talking:

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)

Still, we say a lot, don’t we?  And if we’re honest, the sheer volume of words from churches in America make us wonder if there is any real conviction behind those words.  We read books like Radical by David Platt and hear messages from modern-day prophets like Francis Chan and we applaud – shoot, we even say we agree with – the messages that they espouse, but at the end of the day, we take the material possessions that we have as churches and use them on ourselves first and then give the needy our…

…leftovers.

Let me ask the question again: how can the love of God be in us if we live and operate like that?  According the the Scriptures, it can’t.

Let that sink in a bit.  Ouch.

But what happened on Sunday is exactly what reveals that the love of God is in us, both individually as well as corporately.  When we live for The Other Six days of the week and understand that Sundays are the least important days, we start to give to the need before we give to the greed.  We make sure that our brothers and sisters worldwide have something before we have everything.  And when a church has that kind of DNA, moments like Sunday morning will happen on a regular basis.

Do we need a larger space for our services?  Absolutely.  Do children in India need milk and nourishment more?  Yes.  Will God take care of our space issues when we give a year’s worth of anticipated rent payments to provide over 190,000 cups of milk to those children?  You better believe it!

Thank you to all of you who call The Gathering your home, to all of you who give generously on every occasion and to all of you who allow us as a church to bring glory to the Lord with the gifts you give.  We have the awesome privilege of being part of something bigger than ourselves, and if you know someone who is tired of the typical “us first” religious experience, why not invite them to come and join a movement that lives for more than a 2 hour experience one day a week.

Invite them to walk with us as we follow Jesus on the other six days, too.

UPDATE:  What an honor to know that this wasn’t a “one time shot” for our church.  Now, 16 months removed from this amazing day, we have continued to support not only the persecuted church in India, but many of those in need right here where we live.

One of our Core Values at The Gathering says “we value simpler living and expect a lifestyle of contentment to enable greater and more generous giving.”  Not only have we continued what I wrote about at the end of 2012, but we gave more in 2013, with almost 1 out of every 4 dollars that came in going right back out to help take the gospel to those far from God.  Not bad for a 2-year old, toddler church plant.  Not bad, at all.

Thank you, Gatherers, for truly putting your money where your HEART is.  It’s MY HONOR to pastor you!